Monthly Archives: November 2014

Lots of good feedback from everyone on the idea of this blog, so thanks! I’ll keep updating, but not too much happening now. After closing we met with our builder and designer. We had already been working with them, so the designer had another update to our plans based on our feedback, and the builder had some ideas about how to move forward with the actual work. Since we just closed on this place, we are esentially out of cash, so the discussion with the builder ground to a halt a bit. LOL So much of what we do depends on the sub division of the lot, so it’s a very complicated process. It’s a matter of the builder using his investors or finding an outside investor to commit to buying the back lot which will essentially finance our remodel. That is BEST case scenario for us so we don’t have to finance it ourselves or with a construction loan. In addition, the process of sub dividing the lot is extremely complicated. Since the lot is not technically large enough to subdivide as it stands now, we need to buy 2 feet of property from one of the neighbors to get it to the legal size to divide. That is easier said than done. Maybe I should bake them some cookies… Lots of things have to happen for this to move forward, but we’re not in any hurry, so it’s okay. We just need to explore our options, and if we think it is going to take a longer time than we thought, we will consider renting it for now since it used to be a rental anyway. So nice to have options, AND nice to have things within our control again. Being a slave to the bank was not easy for us and we’re so glad that’s behind us. Anyway, we should hear from the builder this week with some proposals, so we’re anxiously awaiting that.

In the meantime, we stopped over at the house on Thursday. It’s been unusually cold here, and we wanted to turn off the water and turn the heat on. We walked in and the house was a chilly 45 degrees, and so we got the heat going (after running out for batteries for the thermostat-ugh). Then we started searching for the water shut off. We found it and so Bill turned the valve off, and of course it started leaking. GEEZ! So I went scrambling around for a bucket and found one in one of the creepy sheds (had to get by the fear of touching anything)… Water collected over the next few days and eventually stopped. It’s dawning on us that we have to take care of this place in the meantime while we figure out what we’re doing with it. Too funny. Just hope we don’t get squatters.

So by popular demand (Bob Anderson), I am posting the initial drawings our designer put together for the layout of the house via the remodel. Our designer Darren met with us a while back and we went through everything we needed in this house. We have to admit, he pretty much nailed on the first try. We only made a few minor adjustments, but somehow he got everything we needed into this space. We’re keeping a fair amount of the existing house and not messing with foundation etc, so that was not an easy task. Very cool. The photos I’m posting here are all of the interior, and I will post a drawing of the exterior when we get further along as the one we have now is rather crude. The coolest thing to note about the construction of the outside is the roof. The first thing they do when the construction starts is to completely remove the existing roof (and I mean like taking off a hat!) to make way for the new roof which will be a sloped more modern roof to heighten the ceilings, bring a ton of light, and make the most of the views. We don’t have very “modern” taste, so I was worried it was going to be too contemporary, but I think it will work. We’re incorporating more stone elements and some craftsman style elements to counteract the sleek design. It will be interesting.

Anyway, enjoy the photos and more to follow…

Okay, main floor. Where you see the words “main floor” is actually our front door, technically on the side of the house (south side). The staircase/workout and garage is the addition, and the rest of it is the existing house that will be heavily altered. Office on this floor will be Karen’s. The deck side faces west (front of the house/street side) which is where the views are so we are doing a large deck there and then a wall of sliders creating an indoor/outdoor living space. The setbacks for the property won’t allow us to have a deck any wider than 5 feet which is too narrow to get a table on, so we are going to have our dining area right up against the wall of sliders to make an all year round outdoor dining area. The kitchen will be larger than what we have now, and the pantry will be an added bonus. We struggled with the workout room, but the designer found a great spot to work that in next to the garage. Patio off the back which is super private and access to it from various points. The stairs you see in the front off the deck are going to be the existing stairs you see in the original house photos. Right now they are a set of big ugly concrete stairs, but we can save ourselves a lot if we just keep them, spruce them up and use them as part of the patio. Bill is not convinced…

So this is the addition that sits on top of the garage. Will be a totally separate master area, and the office will be Bill’s.

This is the lower floor which is like a “garden level”. The back of it is built into the hill, so as you can see, the wine storage area will be on the side that is built into the hill. Bill has dreams of making this a cave, but I think we will settle for the fact that the proposed wine area is going to be underground which will control temperature. It will sit under the new staircase. But more importantly than that 😉 is the very large craft studio on this level that will have a plenty of room for MagnaMemos, and a bonus of a separate area for spraying (glue) that will be vented etc. Very cool. Spare bedroom down here with full bath as well as a large family room. Lots of privacy for our guests… Patio off the front/access to outside is actually the front of the house, and the area where the staircase is will be our new front door. The front door will technically be on the side of the house for added privacy.

Took a walk by this morning and snapped a few photos to give you an idea of what we are working with.

Not the prettiest, but got good bones which is all we need. So hard to imagine how different it will look!

Front of the house. Hard to see but we are built into the hill which is really great. We sit up a bit and the lower part of the house still has views. The entire roof will come off and become a high pitched roof to make the most of the views. Left side will be a large deck with full sliders for “indoor/outdoor” living.

Garage with shop above which will be demolished to make way for the addition/new garage off the back of the house.

Sunsets are going to be amazing. Facing West.

Lake and territorial views!

Creepy shop above the garage. Lots of spiders in there and about a million nails and screws.

View from the back of the lot to the house. All the brown blobs on the grass are apples from these two apple trees that will sadly be demolished. This is the part of the lot that we hope to sell. Then there would be another house built here, and there’s plenty of room for that!

A couple of odd buildings on the back of the lot. Think this one was a chicken house/coop. Not getting any closer to this one…

You may be reading about our last couple days of closing on our new house, but didn’t even know we were looking. Well, we weren’t. We decided we should back up a step and explain how we got to this point.

Then we learned a bit more about our real estate agent. Her husband is a builder and together they seek out properties with older homes on them and have done a handful of beautiful remodels around Kirkland. We started looking at his work. Very impressive. This may be the way to go. Find one of these older homes that are sprinkled in between the palaces that are being built in Kirkland and remodel. It had possibilities. Now we just had to find one. We figured we were in for the long haul and that was fine with us. We love our current home and are very happy here, so no rush. And Bill kept saying “If we move, it has to be 100% perfect – at par or better than this place”. He was certainly not going to comprimise, and I agreed. We settled in and were prepared to look for 1-2 years before finding something that would work.

About 24 hours into “settling in” mode, our agent sent us a listing for a property on 1st street in Kirkland. A 1959 home that was being used as a rental for students from a local college. It was around the price we thought we could manage (as we would need to keep our current place while this one was being remodeled), and looked like it might have possibilites. But this place had something we did not know at the time, but we were about the find out. We were running some errands, so we decided to drive by. Our agent offered to meet us there, and brought her builder husband. We made it up to the top step of the front entrance and our agent said “turn around”. Bill and I turned around and at the same time said “holy $#@&!” An unbelieveable view of Lake Washington and the Olympic Mountains. WOW. The property was fine, but the price was all about the view. Then it just got better.

We walked into the back yard and saw the enormous lot. The builder explained that with some agreement from the neighbors , the lot was sub dividable. In other words, we could potentially sell the back lot to the builder and that sale could fund our remodel on the front property. Of course it means that there would be a house on the back lot quite close to us, but the financial side was awesome and that’s city living, right? The subdivision was maybe easier said than done, but it was a possibiity. Within 30 minutes we had made a full price offer.

It was Saturday and the seller was not going to entertain offers until Tuesday (can you say “bidding war”?), but the selling agent and our agent and her husband knew each other well. A few phone calls, a bit of a selling job by all parties later, and we had mutual agreement. About an hour later another couple came to look at it and wanted it, and the following day there was an open house on the property and two other couples wanted it as well as about 5 other builders. We realized we had aligned with the right people and snatched this property out from under everyone. Then the scramble for financing began. Not going to waste a lot of time on that, anyone who has been through it knows how painful it is, and this one was especially so. Ugly, but we got there, and now the real work begins.

Well, it’s 6pm and we’re having a glass of wine. Nothing new about that except that we are FINALLY official owners of 1714 1st Street in Kirkland. WOO-HOO, Hooray and congratulations to us!!!

Yesterday we signed all the papers, and today was the day everything was to be recorded with the county and funds moved to the seller – that all happened. Of course as in the theme of this entire transaction today’s events did not go off without a hitch. The bank took forever to move the funds over to the title company and they just barely made the 2pm run to the courthouse to have everything recorded. Ugh! I just picture the guy running to the van heading to the courthouse yelling “wait, wait, I have the Yaeger file”. Seriously, this entire process has been this way. We have a meeting next week with the manager of mortgage banking at US Bank to talk about our experience, and we are ready to unload on them about how badly this entire process was handled. The last 4 weeks have been so stressful, we’re only now starting to realize how much as we “decompress” and get back to focusing on our real lives. Rough…

We’re trying to let go of the stress and anxiety and get to the “good stuff” which is that we are going to remodel this 1959 house into our “dream home”! We met with our designer and builder today at one of their current projects, and it is really cool to see. This builder moves fast, so once we get going I think it will come together quickly, but we have a long way to go until then mostly because have to figure out how we are going to pay for the remodel. Lots of options there, but we’ll figure that out.

Even before the official closing on the new property we discussed with the designer and builder all of our needs and wants for the new house, and they put together preliminary plans. They are really amazing. Wine cellar for Bill, MagnaMemos studio (to the max) for Karen and lots of other bonuses. The house we live in now is really a tough act to follow because we have everything we could every want or need here (not to mention we really LOVE this house), so we were wondering what they would come up with. We have been pleasantly surprised. We revisited those plans today, and I think we have the start to an overall design that is going to be perfect for us and make the best use of this property.

So then that may beg the question, what is the appeal of this property and why did you buy it? One word, VIEW… Photos to follow…

The question mark behind closing in this title is because for two months we have not been sure we would ever close. Our lender has been difficult to deal with to say the least and we have had to get two extensions of the closing date so far which has put this whole deal at risk since obviously the seller wants to complete this transaction. Frankly, it’s just been embarrassing. We signed papers today and are crossing our fingers that the recording and closing takes place as planned tomorrow. For now, I will enjoy my wine and hopefully get a good nights sleep in anticipation of getting handed the keys tomorrow afternoon.